You don't need resolutions to make a difference

"The future is no place to place your better days." - Dave Matthews

Well, happy eve of the year 2012. We survived the end of the world on December 21, 2012 (the end of the Mayan calendar b'ak'tun) and survived frivolous (but just a bit more frivolous) days like 12/12/12. Whew! Good thing that's all over. We can get all the lunacy and craziness out of the way...wait, what's this? All of a sudden, I'm being bombarded with resolutions on my feeds in Twitter and Facebook. Yowzers! All these resolutions make me almost wish the world already ended as planned.

Friday's forecast: Great day for a barbecue!

So I come across all these resolutions, and they're superficial things like "I want to lose weight" or "I'm going to have a relationship." I think these resolutions are missing the point (Rule #1: Focus on mastering the correct technique, not the end results. Once you master the basics, the good results you seek will follow on their own). The whole point to make resolutions is to become a better person, don't you think? If that's the case, why wait until the new year to make that change you need in life. In fact, 92% of all people ultimately never keep their resolutions. I say it's because people are doing things for the wrong reasons. Maybe it's just me. This is the reason why I NEVER make any resolutions at the end of the year, as I think it's ridiculous to wait until a pre-determined time to "make things happen."

First off, resolutions take work to accomplish. You can't expect to accomplish one without putting some time and effort into it. When you start, the end result of the resolution will be far from ideal and you will need to work in order to make it right (Rule #12: Nothing is perfect, but that doesn't mean you can't do anything to improve on it). Second, why wait to do something like if it's going to happen naturally on it's own. Okay, yes it's possible but you still need to put in the work. It won't happen by magic you know. Saying it will happen without doing anything about it is like saying you'll win the lottery THIS TIME because it hasn't happened the other 100 times (for your information, you have more chances being struck by lightning, dating a supermodel, fatally slipping in a bath or shower, or live to see the Cubs win another World Series than winning the lottery).

 Can't I just mark all the numbers? I really HAVE to win this time!

Maybe people make resolutions because it's the "right" thing to do, or because they feel like they need some motivation, but like I said before, it shouldn't be something that people should do in order to force change in their life. I've been able to accomplish a great deal this year, in spite of having no resolutions. So far, I've:

• Gotten very far in my meditation. This year actually marks my second year going on third, after that fateful day long ago.
• As a result of my meditation, I've finally started working full-time again in FEMA. It was a long road back, but I've managed to improve up to the point where I'm able to work 72-hour weeks without any real ill effect.
• Achieved a higher fitness level, although not coming without its mistakes as right now, I've probably burnt myself out physically. It got to the point where I started having anxiety attacks just by climbing the stairs, something that never happened before. However, I am making a steady recovery. Regardless, I'm more or less in the best shape of my life.
• Been able to travel to Florida, so I can cross yet another area of travel off my list (traveling is starting to become a favorite activity for me, and look forward to doing more in the future).

This is strictly a short summary of what happened this year alone, and I wasted no part of this year idling without purpose. Everything was designed for something. For example, I wasn't working for a large part of the year because my mental and physical health was ailing. I decided to take some time out for myself (Rule #14: Take some time out for yourself whenever you can and make the most out of it because one day, taking time off may not be by choice) and focus on exercising and especially meditation in order to heal the mind (I knew most of my problems were related to my mental health) and body. Sure, money was tight and was a problem, but knowing how I got out of tight monetary situations in the past, I knew I had it in me to get out of it once more. Fortunately, I was able to find a job now that's worthwhile that I'm able to use in order to finally settle my debts. It's time to shift my focus from healing (which is for all intents and purposes complete for the main part) to working, rebuilding and taking the next step.

Does that include not gifitng white wine from the 99-cent store for Secret Santa?

In spite of the setbacks, I'd say that this year was a good year and I know it's going to keep getting better. I'm prepared to push past my plateaus, and I'm not going to live in the past and complain about what could've been done. Living in the past works just as well as counting your alphabet. And no, I'm not worried about the end of the world because I live my life the best I can according to each day (Rule #5: Always live your life like it's your last day on Earth, because you never know when it's going to end). Then again, considering crazy things like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West having a child together, maybe the end of the world is closer than I thought.

"18 years, 18 years, and on the 18th birthday he found out it wasn't his?!"
Was he talking about himself in the Gold Digger song?

To all the people out there, I wish you a Happy New Year and hope you enjoyed the last post of 2012. May your upcoming year be filled with joy and happiness. I know that for me, I'll be able to accomplish even more than this year because instead of relying on resolutions, I rely on a little bit of everything. With some luck, you can do exactly the same using my methods and hopefully, my advice on this blog does come in useful to others that have been looking for answers such as myself. I'll sum it down to this:

Rule #23: Learn from the past, acknowledge and embrace the present, and plan to improve for the future. By always looking to improve, you can push beyond plateaus, and much like time, you become limitless.

Armando 2.0 is rebooting...